Color pattern formation on the wing of a butterfly Pieris rapae. 2. Color determination and scale development.

Abstract

It has been shown that microcautery on the prospective apical black region of the early pupal forewing of a butterfly, Pieris rapae, causes alteration of the scale color on the adult wing and a delay in histogenesis of the pupal wing. From these results, it has been assumed that the developmental delay of scale cells in the pupal wing alters their developmental fate and the hypothesis that different color fates of scales are determined by differences in the developmental timetables between scale cells is proposed. In this study, we attempted to find the developmental timetables of individual scales expressing specific color to test this hypothesis. It was found that the holes on the upper surface of a scale become larger as they develop and the hole sizes of scales in the white region are always larger than in the black region on the same wings either during pupal period or after eclosion. This suggests that the scale hole size is a good index that reflects developmental rate of the scale and a difference in the hole size between adult scales is attributed to a difference in the developmental timetables when their ancestral scale precursor cells were in the pupal period. A comparison of the hole sizes between adult scales in different color regions suggested that normal white scales were in a more advanced state than were the black ones but white scales induced by microcautery were in a less advanced state than black ones on the same wing. This supports our hypothesis.